Our Fitness Blog

How to Improve Your Core

We all want a strong core, and we know that it is important to work on building our core. Core exercises should be an important part of our everyday fitness routine, but how do we know if our core strengthening exercises are working? It may be difficult to tell if you are using these muscles in your fitness routine, and it may take a while to notice your improvements, especially since your core muscles stabilize and help improve other movements but are not necessarily a primary component of these movements. Here we will take a look at what exactly makes up your core muscles and how to appropriately and effectively workout these muscles.

What makes up your core

Your core is basically the muscles in your midsection that support and stabilize your body. It is not just your abs. There is so much more involved in your core than just your abs. It includes all your muscles besides those found in your arms and legs, and they are incorporated in almost every movement of your body. They can stabilize movements, transfer movements and even, at certain times, start these movements. When used properly your core muscles will help maintain your posture and form and can help to lessen any aches and pains in your body. However, the real problem with working out these muscles is ensuring that we are actively using them in our workout, which can be difficult because most of the time they are not the muscles primarily responsible for our movements.

How to effectively workout your core

When we think of core exercises, we immediately go to crunches. However, this type of exercise is only working out one section of your core. Crunches would not be enough on its own, so if you are looking for a way to strengthen your core in only one exercise, this would not be a good choice. Instead you want to look for exercises that make your core hold your body stable, while also working out different areas of your body. There are many options out there. You could incorporate different types of planking into your fitness routine such as the front plank and side planks. You could also opt for the all encompassing burpee that has most of us cheering at its name, or mountain climbers would be another great exercise to strengthen your core. As long as the exercise you are doing is relying on your core muscles to properly perform it, then you are engaging and strengthening those muscles.

Remember, you can have all the strong core muscles in the world, but if you want to be able to SEE them, you have to eat right and eat right consistently! Abs are made in the kitchen!

It is important to build your core in order to give your body a proper and effective support system. This means that you should ensure that you are actively working out your core during each and every one of your fitness routines. It is best to use different types of exercises to get some variations on your movements and give your core the ability to work different ways and to incorporate different muscles within your core. Remember it is not just those abs that need an effective workout.